Select A Tour Reviews From Customers

We’ve had lots of excellent feedback and reviews on Select-a-tour.com from satisfied customers who enjoyed our tours, here is a selection:

Tailor made Croatia Tour 2023

“…Everything was fantastic. Each part of the trip worked well and drivers and guides were great. A good streamlined service. Hotels chosen were all of a good standard and well located. Thank you!..” R & KC from Australia

Baltic Highlights Tour 2023

“…Well worth doing. From my first contact with your company things were easy, very helpful with bookings and any questions I had.

Thanks for a wonderful time…”
JC from NZ

Tailor made Tallinn & Riga Tour 2023

“…We had a lovely time so have detailed below feedback:

TALLINN
Transfer to hotel ran smoothly
Hotel was lovely, big room good facilities and breakfast amazing
Julia was a great guide and we particularly enjoyed the walking city tour.
She suggest a restaurant that was superb for dinner
Transfer to Kadriorig good and the stops on the way were very interesting.
Castle a bit disappointing as I expected furniture as well as art!!
Airport transfer good

RIGA
Transfer to hotel ran smoothly
Hotel not nearly as good.  Room set up as a double and when we asked to have it changes were told tomorrow as cleaning staff had gone home.  When i got a bit cross the bedding appeared and we did it ourselves.  The room is much smaller and the bathroom such that you cannot dress inside after your shower as there is not enough room.
All in all the room was a bit tired, but clean.
Breakfast adequate
Elize was a superb guide, the walking tour lovely with a tram ride included.
Good restaurant recommendations
The palace Rundale was amazing well worth a visit, and although the gardens were not in bloom you could see the potential.
Transport good to hotel and the airport transfer.

Many thanks for splendid organisation Becky it was as fabulous holiday…” JS from UK

Baltic Highlights Tour 2023

“…We had a wonderful time!…”
GT from Australia

Baltic Highlights Tour 2023

“…We’ll give feedback as soon as we get home. We really enjoyed our tour with you. Thanks!…”
JC

Discover Armenia & Georgia 2022

“…First of all, a BIG thank you to you, we found your support to be seamless and of the highest standards from start to finish. We also think that the service provided by Elisa (guide) and Levan (driver) in Armenia deserved to be recognized. L and I were impressed by their friendliness, knowledge and professionalism, they were the highlight of the trip, always going above and beyond. We believe it’s also worth sharing that we found the level of service provided in Georgia to be below expectations. Gega, our guide was friendly but his explanations lacked the “whaou touch” and at times were repetitive. We believe that his communication skills could be improved to make the story more engaging and put this on the back of its (lack) of experience, Gega being 26. Punctuality was also a challenge, we never managed to meet at the agreed time. The traffic was provided as the reason but this was not obvious to us. We also felt unsafe at times with our driver (in Georgia) because of his undecisiveness when overtaking. It’s hard to say if it was because of the lack of horsepower of the car or because of his driving style and his potential desire to save fuel. The ventilation in the car was off 95% of the time and a/c was turned on on demand only and quickly turned off, making the car a warm and at times unpleasant environment to be in. We believe there are some better guide/drivers out there, we did a (separate) tour Sunday and everything was excellent. Perhaps, there are some synergies/opportunities to team up in the future ? Overall, we very much enjoyed the trip and would recommend Select-a-Tour…”   MA from UK

Deluxe Private Journey Moscow and St Petersburg – Apr 2019: Click here to view Tour

“…Just a line or two to let you know our trip to St Petersburg and Moscow was the most tremendous success. Hotels were excellent, great restaurants –  the itineraries excellent for interest and variety, all aspects of transport worked – punctual and comfortable – and both Maria in St Petersburg and Katja in Moscow were a mine of information as well as fun to be with.  So many many thanks for all your hard work and attention to details we had a wonderful trip…”
DW from UK

Russian Explorer – January 2019

“…I honestly cannot think of enough good things to say about my experience with Select Tours and Cruises. From start to finish, the staff (especially Becky Coulter, who I had the most contact with) was available, thorough, and most importantly honest. Everything involving payment was laid out in clear, idiot-proof terms that made it easy to keep track of my billing schedule. The paperwork issued by Select Tours and Cruises was 100% legitimate – I had no problem obtaining a visa to, entering, and/or exiting the Russian Federation. The guides on the ground (Maria in Moscow, Andrei in St.Petersburg) were equally friendly and professional. I learned a lot from both of them. Finally, my itineraries in both destinations were exactly as advertised. There were no unexpected changes or hidden costs, and my guides were always right on schedule to pick me up and take me wherever I needed to be. I don’t think it’s any secret that many Westerners consider Russian travel a daunting, maybe even dangerous prospect, but this entire experience was completely positive and I can’t wait to visit again. I have Select Tours and Cruises to thank for that. Thank you very much for all of your help. You truly made this a trip to remember…”
JW from USA

Imperial Russia Train Moscow to Beijing – September 2018

“…I had a great journey on the Russian Imperial train.  Your pre-tour service was excellent ~ you were very responsive and helpful and provided accurate info. Thank you for providing such an conscientious service. Everything about the trip was awesome!…”
SW from USA

Deluxe Private Journey to St Petersburg – October 2018 Click here to view Tour

“…We would like to share with you the experience we had during our visit to St. Petersburg. The hotel was very pleasant in every aspect, the program you made up was very useful, BUT, what really made this trip an unforgettable one, was our guide Maria Hilkova. She granted us with every wish, navigated us through, and skipped the line (and what lines) on every occasion. Maria knew exactly where our interests lie and planed our trip to perfection. The climax of the visit was on Wednesday. Because president Putin and Chancellor Kurz opened an exhibition, the Hermitage museum was closed for visitors. Maria arranged for us to enter the museum at 10:00 am, and for 3 1/2  hours we had the whole museum for ourselves. She guided us through all the rooms and we were able to inspect each item without a person beside us. We greatly enjoyed the opera, concert and ballet for which you arranged for us the best possible seats. Finally a good word for our driver and his big car, who was always on the spot and did not keep us waiting for a moment.
We know that you have been behind the scene watching over the whole trip and for this many thanks to you too…”

AR from Israel

Tailor-made Moscow to Beijing Tour – August 2018

“…We would like to say a huge thank you to you and all who were involved in organising the most fantastic journey from which we’ve just returned. Every stage worked according to plan and the guides and drivers were exceptional.  We’d particularly like you to pass on thanks to Julia and Dimitri in Moscow, Ganzul (Zulaa) and driver Erdene in Mongolia who were quite exceptional and Felix in Beijing.  Everything worked just as you had planned.

Advice we’d like to pass on to others who may be doing similar tours is

• We did not manage to also visit St Basils in Moscow in one day – it would have been physical and mental overload but that was fine as we admired the outside and can return another time, hopefully, to see more in that city.
• Don’t expect to find much more than sugary drinks and a few crisps and pot noodles for sale on station platforms and don’t expect very much choice of food in the restaurant cars.  We were fine as we took delicious ‘expedition dehydrated food’ to supplement what we could get en route.
• Don’t aim to do much in Ulan Baatur as the traffic moves much slower than walking speed. Best to aim to visit one part of city only.  Our half day there was perfect as by chance we found that the very good new hotel where we stayed was next to the National Art Gallery and a very interesting Chinese exhibition of traditional crafts from across the country had just opened there.
• Least good hotel of the trip was the Imperia in Irkutsk. Not in interesting location and the shower did not work. There are much better alternatives there in the main square.  The other hotels in Moscow, Ulan Baatur and Beijing were perfection and could not be bettered.  Do send others to them.
• The ger camps were excellent. The least interesting location was Oggi Lake as the area is littered with rubbish and the camp (although the staff were very kind and helpful as everywhere else) is rather run down – all others were magical.  Perhaps one of the camps further round the lake would be better.

We do hope we can make another trip to Mongolia and might explore the idea of going for two weeks to the Russian and/or Mongolian Altai mountains.  Do you have any comments on that?  Have you planned tours there for other clients?  If we go we’ll definitely do it in the same way with guide and driver.  Once again thank you and all staff at Select Tours and your local partners.  Everything from pre-tour planning right through to local organisation throughout was faultless and made for a most enjoyable experience…”

GB from UK

Russian Explorer – July 2018

“…We are very pleased and impressed with our Russian Tour 20-28 July 2018. Maria Pastukhova and Oksana Rubcova took a care of us in Moscow and St Petersburg respectively.  We were very impress with their knowledge and fascination of Russian history and ability to share it with us in very interesting way. Thanks to them we enriched our knowledge and we will remember it for long time. The ladies’ well organize skills and spontaneous reactions helped us to fill very comfortable, even, if we had a long queue in front of us. The ladies always found the way to make our waiting time to the minimum. and for it we love them!!! As according to the schedule we had some free time. At home we made a plan how to spend it. With great help of Maria and Oksana we managed to fulfill our planed private tours. They helped us to obtain the tickets (metro, museums, boat tours), exchange money, etc. What we managed to see in such of short time in very helpful and  pleasant  way of Maria and Oksana went above our expectations and therefore we will recommend their service to any of our colleagues, friend and families. Well done Girls!!!!!

Regards

M and M from South Africa (“…until next time…”)

Deluxe Private Journey Moscow and St Petersburg – Apr 2018: Click here to view Tour

“… Just to say we had a marvellous trip and absolutely no trouble. Everyone was very welcoming.  The arrangements worked very well and the guides-both women- were excellent. Moscow was far more impressive than we expected and we had beautiful weather as well. St. Petersburg was even more impressive than we were led to believe and the weather was not too bad. The hotels and service were very good.  The guide for the Diamond Room at the Hermitage confirmed tourists should opt for this room rather than the Gold Room (more for archaeological buffs)- so we got that right too. Many thanks for arranging so professionally a truly memorable trip…”

SL from UK

Moscow’s Golden Ring Tour – Feb 2018: Click here to view Tour

“…I’m very happy to give feedback, and thank you for letting me make my own comments rather than asking me to wade through a survey! We really enjoyed our tour. It was very well planned by Becky and took account of our particular wishes, such as our desire to spend two nights in Yaroslavl, where our son is currently studying. The hotels were all really good and we stayed in great comfort (more than we are used to). We particularly liked the hotel in Suzdal, which is so unusually laid out but but so appropriate for Suzdal. The hotel (Budapest) in Moscow was very well located, with the city centre right on the doorstep – a really good choice for us. Suzdal was one of our tour highlights – such a beautiful town, and, as we were visiting mid-week, we had it to ourselves. Finally, I should mention the guides. Both Catherine and Helen were extremely knowledgeable and spoke excellent English; they were also very willing to help with other issues that arose, just helping us here and there when we needed it (eg what things were on menus). They were also very willing to have wider conversations with us about Russia, which we found very interesting and really helped our appreciation of the country. Catherine in particular was a delight, and I would heartily recommend both of them. Helen was very accommodating to our request on our last full day to cancel the visit to Rostov and to accompany us to a museum of our choice instead, in Yaroslavl, so that we had time to visit our son’s apartment and meet his landlady.  We are delighted that we used Select, and were very happy with our holiday. As general advice for the Golden Ring, I’d say you need to really like churches – we felt a bit “churched out” by the end – but that is the nature of that area. As a first visit to Russia, we learnt a lot and were very pleased with the way it was all planned.   Thank you to all involved…”

JR from UK

Russian Explorer – Jan 2018

“…Thank you, and yes we had a wonderful time.  The hotels were good, the guides were excellent, everything went to plan, and we had free time to explore for ourselves. Maybe there was more to see in Moscow than we thought, as many tours just managed 1 full day, having more days in Moscow was therefore why we chose yourselves! Maria Pastukhova (Moscow guide) was a wonderful and very intelligent guide, who spent even more time with us than was allocated, so went beyond her remit. Maybe in St Petersburg we could have found more things to visit in our free time, or more could have been suggested by our guide.  The only real query we had was in the initial booking, both staff (Irina and Verginia) in the office in Huntingdon  were extremely helpful and sorted it for us, but it wasn’t very obvious in the information online that we had to present personally to the Visa Office, so therefore needed a day to visit London to get one!!  All in all a great experience, probably helped by the weather which was -15C, snow and extremely blue skies, which made for wonderful photos – just lucky I guess..”

A & A P from UK

Managers note: Personal applications for visas only required in UK, Denmark, Namibia and Myanmar, all other countries you may apply by post or use an agency

Classical Tour of Romania – Sept 2017:  Click here to view Tour

“…In general, of tours I did in last couple of years, I can say with full honesty that this was the most excellent one. Everything was in order whether stay in hotels, all the sight seeing and food in
different restaurants. Most important one was the information and knowledge provided by the tour guide, which was unparalleled, besides taking full care of each one of us. I must congratulate your dedicated teamwork for conducting such nice tours. I hope in future also I will get opportunity to be with your agency for any other tour…”

SL from India

Deluxe Private Journey Moscow and St Petersburg – Sept 2017: Click here to view Tour

“…Could not ask for better experiences in Russia. Location of our hotel was very good and managed to find good food around both the cities. Train Journey was very scenic. Russia is very clean country. Whilst we were in Moscow, celebration of 870 years of country being formed. Very well organised event which was on the same street as our hotel. Even with thousands of people, no rubbish, no fights because of no alcohol and very entertaining. Main thing is our view of Russia is changed for better and maybe another trip to explore the countryside. Thanks again…”

P family from UK

Russian Explorer, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan bespoke Tour – May 2017:

“…We had  a wonderful time. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and professional. The only negative comments we have is one of the tour vehicles in Dushanbe was not  up to standard, otherwise every thing was great. I will definitely recommend Select tours to my friends and associates…”

NT from Canada

Classic Baltic Tour Review – May 2017: Click here to view Tour

“…Everyone of our group had a great time with your great tour arrangement. We liked the location of the hotels, sightseeing programs, optional tours, and pre-arranged dinner. The local guides were attentive and knowledgeable.  Suggestion: to include a short message in the travel document reminding the tour members are requiring to check-in the hotel by themselves. Or, the local guide can do announcement before arrival that tour members guests are required to check-in by themselves.
Overall: your tour arrangement is excellent!!…”
VC from Hong Kong

Classical Tour of Romania – July 2016: Click here to view tour

“…The Classical Tour of Romania was a most enjoyable experience. The sights were excellent, the hotels of great quality and comfortable and the food most enjoyable.  The guide, Pieter, was extremely knowledgeable, very polite and easy to get along with. He was very helpful at all times.  The bus driver drove safely at all times so the journeys were very comfortable.
Overall it was a fantastic experience which I would highly recommend to anyone.
Romania is a very beautiful country with lots for the tourists to see. I am so glad I did this tour…”

PG from Australia

Visa Free St Petersburg – September 2016 Click here to view Tour

“…I wanted to thank you for arranging our St Petersburg visit in September and give you some feedback on our 3 day visa free tour. All arrangements went exactly to plan and the hotels, ferries and guide surpassed our expectations. Our guide Svetlana was nervous at first but we warmed to each other quickly. She was extremely efficient and covered everything on our requested agenda in the short time allowed. She had pre arranged tickets at all venues and she was able to usher us in front of long queues and large tour groups, much to their surprise (and ours!). Her knowledge was extensive and there was no question she could not answer.
Many thanks for your help and attention to our requests and for making this trip possible and also most enjoyable for us…”

LP from Australia

Russian Explorer Tour – September 2016

“…We have now returned home after 2 months away, which included the Russian tour of 7 nights. I just thought I’d let you know that the Moscow and St Petersburg tours went very well, and we felt we saw everything we hoped to. The two guides were very conscientious and did a really good job. Added to that was the first class service we got from you and others in London. You made the preparations easy. Incidentally, if any other customers ask (as I did): “How many Roubles should I take?” our own experience could help. We found that our Visa card was accepted everywhere for shopping and cafes/restaurants, so the only thing we needed cash for was for tips. Also, there were plenty of ATMs around to deliver Roubles (using a Cash Passport card) if needed…”

JG from Australia

Tailor-made St Petersburg and Moscow Tour – August 2016

“…Hi Select Tours,  on behalf of our Group, I would like to sincerely thank you for organising our tour that was recently completed, consisting of 10 days in Russia (St Petersburg and Moscow). We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Our tour guides were excellent, had fantastic local knowledge and were flexible to accommodate our personal needs and preferences throughout the different tours and activities. Having the opportunity to fully personalise our tour for our small group of 9 people turned out to be a great decision. Thank you for your prompt and regular communication, and finalising aspects of the tour even when actually in Russia.   I have included the other 8 tour members in this email in case they would like to add any feedback. We would also be keen to get email addresses for our two tour guides (Katya and Anna) to have the ability to thank them – we were very appreciative of their leadership and care…”

VC from Australia

Visa Free St Petersburg – Click here to view tour

“…Our trip to St Petersburgh was excellent. We really enjoyed the ferry travel and our hotel was superb. Our guide was very informative on the tours.
One issue was the access on and off the ferry at St Petersburgh. As we had larger cases and were not young, the very steep gangway access was an issue and we were grateful for help from other passengers to get on and off. I would recommend looking at improving it to allow passengers similar access as that in Helsinki…”

L from UK

“Customer Services: Thank you for your kind comments. Thank you for pointing out the issue of the gangway in St Petersburg. We will in future explain this in further detail in our notes for future clients.”

Golden Ring of Moscow – June 2016;  Click here to view tour

“…My customer just returned from doing this private tour, she loved it thank you. She has asked if I can find out an address where she can send a thank you gift to the guide and driver.
Thank you…”

Travel Agent from Australia

Trans-Siberian/Mongolian Train – Tsar’s Gold + Moscow and St Petersburg – June 2016:  Click here to view tour

“…Excellent service from Becky from my first enquiry, to finding out about my trans siberian train options, to booking and queries until the trip.
Excellent service from Verginia for Russian visas for myself and friends and family who met me in Moscow and St Petersburg.  Also in arranging my Mongolia and Chinese Visas and keeping me in contact with where my passport with knowing I had travel plans coming up.

This was the most amazing trip, so well organised.  The only part of it that did not live up to expectations was that the on board English lectures were not as good as I had hoped.  But everything else was excellent – general organisation; hotels and local guides in various places; staff on board and the train itself.  Although the dossier stresses that is is not luxury, I think that unless you are very fussy, it is as near to 5* as you can get on a train.  The food (4 course lunches and 3 course dinners) and dining service was excellent and apart from a bit too much cabbage soup (!!), I can’t complain.  My cabin class (Superior +) was an excellent choice and I think even for couples, having seen all the different classes, apart from not being en suite (which did not matter to me as there was a very large and well appointed shower room just down the carriage) it is better than Nostalgic comfort and Bolshoi because of how they are configured (basically when the beds are pulled out in the posher classes there is virtually no room and the ‘ensuites’ are very tiny and less usable than my communal one).

Moscow services all worked efficiently and as planned.  We arrived at the station very early as there was so little traffic and Catherine kindly suggested that she wait with our luggage whilst we went for an explore/coffee before getting us on board.

St Petersburg services; Julia was an excellent guide – good at dodging the queues, informative and gave us so much extra information, even recommending and booking a restaurant for us!…”

FH from UK

TransSiberian rail tour Moscow to Beijing – May 2016:  Click here to view tour

“…Hi Becky, thought to give you feedback after what can only be described as a trip of a lifetime!!!!
Thank you to you and Select Tours for arranging everything.  Our guides were fantastic, the accommodation was great and the experience unforgettable!!…”

CM and JM from South Africa

Visa Free to St Petersburg – April 2016: Click here to view tour

“… We took the Visa Free Visit to St Petersburg at the end of April. It may have been the first tour for the year. It was absolutely wonderful.The arrangements via e-mail were easy and accurate. We originally had some questions and your staff answered these promptly and clearly. The trip on Princess Maria was our first trip on a cruise ship and it was an amazing experience. It was very comfortable, there were a variety of excellent restaurants and the staff were friendly and helpful.  The Solo Sokos Hotel was an excellent choice, very clean with all amenities. The staff were friendly and helpful and the restaurant was superb.The first day group tour took us to a number of sights with a very friendly and knowledgeable guide ( Catherine ). She spoke extremely good English and was able tell us a lot about the interesting history of this area. We chose to take the optional tour on the next day and we were so glad that we did. Our guide (Jelena) was so enthusiastic about the art and history of St Petersburg that we felt that we were immersed in the culture of the people. We had an amazing experience; thank you for making it possible….”

J & M M from Australia

TransSiberian rail tour Moscow to Beijing – March 2016: Click here to view tour

“….This trip was amazing, we loved almost everything about this trip and so glad that we went in winter – Russia covered is snow was an experience I will never forgot. Plus we ended up being there during the start of Lent so there were so many festivals and traditional Russian celebrations going on. Julia our tour guide in Moscow was great, showed us some cool things but also told us about great shops and restaurants that we could explore on our own. Mark, our tour guide in Irkutsk was outstanding, he took us to great local restaurants, took us to do some cool local things; like walking on a frozen lake!! It wasn’t too scary when there were quite a few cars parked on the lake with us! He was also happy to stop and show us something if it looked interesting as we drove past. Something that I really wanted to do was go to the Lake Baikal museum were they have 2 Nerpa seals (super fat but really cute), and aquarium with fish from Lake Baikal, history and facts about Lake Baikal (which I didn’t know how big or amazing the lake was until I went here) and a virtual submarine using actual footage from a real submarine diving in Lake Baikal.  Mark was more than happy to oblige and arrived early on one of our tour days and took us to the museum, it was less than a 5 minute walk from our accommodation and I would highly recommend adding this to any and all tours that go out to Lake Baikal.  Having the Ballet and Dog Sledding included in this was wonderful and super easy, Dog sledding was probably my boyfriends favorite part of this trip!  I really like the fact that we were dropped off and picked up from airports, train stations, accommodations etc this made for a very relaxing and easy trip. A lot better than a bulk tour where you’re stuck waiting for buses or other people.  Mongolia was great but for us personally our tour guide Enkhbat provided a bit too much information, some times we just wanted to sit or look silently and take in the sights or artifacts. The Ger camp we stayed at was great, a nice camping experience without out being stuck with an outhouse or blow up mattress.  The people at the Ger Camp were also really nice and very helpful especially with keeping our fire nice and hot. Almost too hot considering we had the door open for about 3 hours to cool the tent down with the outside temperature being at -21!!.  I could probably go on about so much but i think they are the main things,  i would like to thank Becky for all her help and information before the trip made me feel pretty relaxed. Thanks again….”

SV from Australia

Visa Free to St Petersburg – May 2016: Click here to view tour

“…Thank you for the opportunity of voicing our thoughts. We were extremely happy with everything about this trip. The guide, Elena, was wonderful, very informative and a lovely person. I have already recommended your company to many friends. Our compliments on the efficiency of all who put this together for us….”

SH from Australia

Visa Free to St Petersburg – May 2016: Click here to view tour

“…We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to St. Petersburg. Our guide and driver were very professional and accommodating. All of the tours were excellent all helped by our very knowledgeable guide. It is difficult to say which trip we liked the best but possibly it was the Hermitage. The trip to Menshikov’s Palace and Peterhof were memorable. The fact that we could roam around St. Petersburg on our own was special. We went to see Swan Lake one evening walking back across the Neva to our hotel. A trolley ride downtown was very interesting and worthwhile just for the people watching. The stores in the mall are like any other European shops. Since the weather was perfect we opted to take a boat trip on the Neva seeing all the wonderful buildings from a different perspective. Our accommodation in St. Petersburg was excellent. St. Petersburg is a spectacular city to visit and we would highly recommend the visa free trip from the ease of booking to the actual trip itself….”

EN from UK

Visa Free to St Petersburg – May 2016: Click here to view tour

“…Hi Becky, thanks to you, we had a wonderful cruise & trip to St Petersburg. It was well organised, completely hassle-free and the weather was also cooperating! We enjoyed the free afternoons exploring the city on our own on foot, and trying local cuisine. The location of Hotel Petro Palace is most convenient too.  We were surprised & delighted to receive a souvenir book on St Petersburg from the company. Once again, thank you so much, Becky. We certainly would not hesitate to recommend your company to our friends…”

NI and BA Canada

Deluxe Private Journey to St Petersburg – April 2016: Click here to view tour

“…Our tour was wonderful and we feel excellent value.  Your St. Petersburg tour guide Julia Pavlotskaya, was a great. Julia  is very knowledgeable of the sights and of Russian history.  Julia is a delightful person who spoke perfect English to us.  We are a senior couple with some back problems, and Julia set the pace and time table that was manageable for us.  We extended several days in St. Petersburg and Julia recommended additional information regarding public transportation as well as restaurants, and sights to see on our own.  She also gave us her card and mobile phone number in case we need additional assistance while in St. Petersburg.  The hotel that you provided, Domina Prestige St. Petersburg was a good choice.  The hotel’s recent renovation is evident.  It  was comfortable, and offered a restaurant as well as a bar which several times was convenient to use and offered a good menu and excellent food. The friendly staff spoke several languages, and for us the excellent English was much appreciated.

Thank you for your service, St Petersburg was the highlight of our entire trip….”
C E from USA

TransSiberian Rail Tour Moscow to Vladivostok – March 2016: Click here to view tour

“…The holiday was amazing. The Select Tours side was perfectly organised. We were met at every station, all the timings were correct and the hotels were generally of a very high standard. Natalie in Moscow was an outstanding guide….thank you once again for all your help and efficiency.  I’ll certainly recommend the company to anyone who is not bored by my photos…”
A P from UK

TransSiberian Rail Tour Moscow to Vladivostok – March 2016: Click here to view tour

“…We had a fantastic time in Russia.  Things couldn’t have been better.   Thanks for everything!
I will email Carolyn when I get home…”
M M from UK

Visa Free St Petersburg Tour – Sept 2015: Click here to view tour

“…We had a super visit to St Petersburg and were well looked after by your guide and driver, Maria and Alexander respectively.  With their assistance we got to see the main sights efficiently leaving us with plenty of free time and advice to do our own exploring.  The hotel was excellent, with a fine spacious and comfortable room and pleasant public areas (not that we spent much time there!).  The city and environs were a fascinating and largely unexpected experience that brought a lot of fairly recent history to life, particularly when it was being explained by Maria.  We look forward to seeing more of Russia.  The ferry was very agreeable and our cabins all that we could have hoped for.
All in all, a wonderful trip.   Thank you…”
P L from Eire

Visa Free St Petersburg Tour  – Sept 2015: Click here to view tour

“…The travel went smoothly with no hitches. We were impressed with the St Petersburg hotel (Sokos Vasilievsky)). The accommodation was of a high standard and the food excellent. The guides provided were knowledgeable and pleasant. We would recommend it to others…”
J N from Australia

MS Tolstoy River Russian Cruise  – Sept 2015

“…I must thank your Carolyn for the good arrangements that she has made for our cruise on the Ms Tolstoy from Moscow to St Petersburg. the airport transfers were punctual and helpful. We enjoy the 12 days cruise with the company of twelve other English speaking tourist from other part of the world. Our guide on the ship Miss Dianna is very good in making all the shore arrangement and programme on Board the ship. My wife and I enjoy the cruise very much…”
NW from Malaysia

Visa Free St Petersburg Tour Review – Sept 2015: Click here to view tour

“…Our recent Visa-Free trip to St Petersburg was excellent.  The Vasilievsky hotel and staff were lovely.  The guide for the Hermitage was very knowledgeable.  The ferry was comfortable and convenient.  The package was good value.  We really enjoyed it. Carolyn Penney was a pleasure to work with in making the trip arrangements.  I would (and already have) recommended Select-a-cruise to others…”
JP from USA

Visa Free St Petersburg Tour  – Sept 2015: Click here to view tour

“…A big thank you to you all. We were more than satisfied with your service before and all through the trip. It was complete with an upgrade at the hotel. The comfortable and nice room together with a platter of fruit certainly helped to celebrate our anniversary. Once again compliments on your efficient service…”
JDE from Italy

Visa Free St Petersburg Tour – August 2015 Click here to view tour

“…It was a wonderful experience and your company did a fantastic job in organizing all the details , the hotel was excellent, the tour guide was very knowledgeable and nice and we had a great trip in every way!!!     I have recommended you to friends and will definitely use your services in the future!!!  THANK YOU for making our trip a superb experience!!…”
PP from USA

Russian Explorer Tour with Helsinki Extension – August 2015

“…My feedback is very positive, the overall experience was very enjoyable. The Russia Explorer tours were an ideal way to explore these cities, the right balance between tours and free time.
Everything was well organised and went to plan. The tour guides in both cities were excellent. Helsinki was also very enjoyable. Feedback on the hotel is that it is a little bit tired looking and could do with some updating, also front line reception staff could be more informative in terms of places to eat in the area, things to do…”
AS from UK and Ireland

Visa Free St Petersburg tour – August 2015 Click here to view tour

“…Thank you! We had a fantastic time on our trip to St. Petersburg. It exceeded our expectations! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and accommodating…”
LS from USA

Tailor Made Tour to Moscow & St Petersburg – July 2015

“…Just to say an enormous thank you for organizing the most amazing holiday for us! It truly was the holiday of a life time! Everything went like clockwork, from check in to arrival. Thank you to all for making it such a memorable experience for us all. If we thing of going back we will definitely will be using your wonderful company again, and will be recommending you to all our friends and golfing colleagues. Thank you all again so very much for everything you did for us, your attention to detail and kindness is very much appreciated. Looking forward to the next one already!
One more thing, a big thank you for your wonderful guides Gennady in Moscow and Andrei in St. Petersburg. Please forward our thanks and gratitude to them once again.
At last I would like to thank you very much for you lovely present , it will be put in a special place in my house and it will always reminds me with the nice gesture of you and your wonderful company.  Till next trip in Europe , please accept our deepest warm regards…”
MH from Egypt

Visa Free St Petersburg  – July 2015 Click here to view tour

“…Having returned from our trip to St Petersburg on Friday, I felt I had to drop you a line to tell you how much we all enjoyed it.   Every element of the holiday went smoothly and was of high quality; the ferry, hotel, excursions and especially our guide Julia Krivenko, who was exceptional.   We found it easy to book ourselves seats for the ballet before we set off and a canal boat trip with commentary in English ( only one company, apparently) and tickets to the Faberge Egg museum whilst we were there, just as you had advised.   Thank you once again for such good organisation; we have a friend who also wishes to visit St Petersburg next month and we have already recommended he approach your company to book his visit.
Our thanks once again for a job well done…”
PD form UK

Baltic States Tour Review – July 2015: Click here to view tour

“…The clients have just popped in to see me and they said that their holiday was really great !  The tour was very good as were the hotels !..”
Agent in South Africa

MS Chernyshevsky Cruise Review – July 2015:

“..Hello, we just arrived from the cruise.  We would like to thank you for everything. We enjoyed it very much, Masha was Great! We were the only couple from Israel, now all our friends want to take part in this cruise…”
D & Y from Israel

Visa Free St Petersburg Tour – July 2015: Click here to view tour

“..Katya and Alexei were awesome!  Thank you for the wonderful help and fantastic tour!!..”
KC, USA

Russian Explorer Tour Review – July 2015:

“..Still in one piece!! Just a note to say we had a wonderful time altogether! The tour was nicely paced and we had lots of do-your-own- thing time. Russia is very much changed since I was there in 1972 naturally, and the young people all look so trim, healthy and happy. It’s gotta be change for the better.  We were with two other ladies, one an Australia and the other a Canadian and we all got on really great together. We were tripping around on Moscow’s Metro in no time at all! Both our guides were also very helpful. So please accept my thanks for all your help and support all along the way.  I hope to go back sometime soon, to some other part. So I will be back to you.  And in the meantime, when you come to Ireland, do let me know you are coming…”
B, Ireland

Visa Free St Petersburg Tour – July 2015: Click here to view tour

“..Truly one of the best trips I have ever been on. Every aspect of the trip exceeded my expectations for the experience and the value.
Starting with how easy your company made the registering and the visa free component; followed by the comfort and convenience of the Princess Maria ship and our deluxe berth; to our private tour guide Timor who was extremely knowledgeable and our very friendly driver Anatoli, to the very pleasant accommodations at the conveniently located Sokos Hotel and the ease of entering the various venues that you pre-arranged we were delighted with every aspect of the trip. When we advised Timor that we were interested in an additional excursion to Peterhof he made the arrangements seamlessly without any hassles.
Thank you and keep us apprised of other trips that you sponsor…”
LB, USA

Classic Baltics Tour Review – July 2015: Click here to view tour

“..Classic Baltic Tour I was on your tour recently with Messrs. H and T. Just to say we enjoyed it and particularly thought the guides were EXCELLENT. They all gave us real insight into the countries with charm and grace. The Hotels fine except in Riga where modernisation is need! And thank you for all your help…”
PP, UK & North America
Customer Services: Thank you for your kind comments – we will pass these to the guides and indeed to the hotels, and ask the Riga hotel to attend!

Russian Independent Explorer Review – July 2015:

“..Dear Becky,
We returned today from Moscow.
The ITINERARY was well executed.. your choice of guides both in Moscow and Saint Petersburg was good. We have nothing to complain.
Thanks for everything .. we were satisfied on what you had organized…”
Regards,
K, Kenya

Visa Free St Petersburg Review – July 2015: Click here to view tour

“..We were very pleased with our recent visit to St. Petersburg. All correspondence prior to our trip was very helpful. Arriving in St. Petersburg we were most pleasantly surprised to find we had our own tour guide and driver. We had expected to be part of a larger group. This was a huge bonus for us. Hotel accommodations were very comfortable and spacious and staff were all very pleasant.
Our tour guides and drivers were very knowledgeable, eager to make our stay as enjoyable as possible, and helpful in any way possible.
This is certainly a trip I would recommend to others…”
L H, Canada

MS Rostropovich Cruise Review – July 2015:

“..Hi, I have nothing but praise for your service pre -tour and everything went like clockwork. As for the cruise itself it was excellent. We were happy with accomodation, food and tours. One small thing was that I think the gym equipment on the boat should be upgraded. The equipment wouldn’t have been top class when new but now it doesn’t even function properly. On one of the legs there is almost 24 hours without the opportunity to go ashore so passengers should have the opportunity to exercise.
Finally the Four Seasons Lion Palace Hotel is amazing. To the person reading this – put it on your bucket list!!!..”
Regards, Australia

Customer Services: Thanks for pointing out the comments about the gym – we have passed your comments on to MS Rostropovich for their immediate attention.

Visa Free St Petersburg – July 2015: Click here to view tour

“..Thank you for getting in touch.  We found our trip to St. Petersburg to be extremely satisfactory, and thoroughly enjoyed this city.  The tour guide, Masha, was a delight.  Her knowledge of English and Art History are superb, and combined with this, she has a wonderful personality. Equally delightful was the driver, Dmitry.  Everyone was very courteous, including the staff at the Hotel.  Our accommodations were excellent, and in nice proximity to restaurants and shops. One recommendation I have is to include a guided tour to the Russian Museum, if possible.
All in all, we loved Russia, and their people.  Your tour enabled us to have the best impression possible.
If my husband has any further remarks, or suggestions, I will leave it to him to respond…”
Thank you, G

Visa Free St Petersburg – June 2015: Click here to view tour

“..Hi Select a Cruise! Our visit to St Petersburg was most enjoyable. Good comfortable cabin on the voyages from Helsinki and back. Good choice of restaurants and cafes on board. In St P we were very happy with our guide who was a History graduate with excellent English. Very friendly and informative. Also gave us good advice about visiting Peterhof Palace and gardens in our spare morning. She also arranged us a discount on our entry tickets. In the Hermitage museum she wafted us past the queues. She told us fascinating backgrounds and history about key paintings and sculptures.  Our driver was very polite and drove safely through St P’s challenging traffic, always finding a park close to our destinations.  The hotel was comfortable and a good standard. It was reasonably located just off Bolshoi Prospect, not too far from the centre.  Avoiding the need for a Russian visa was a boon. Before discovering Select a Cruise we had investigated applying for a visa and had been overwhelmed by the bureaucracy, and decided not to go.  Thanks, a great trip and memorable experience. ..”

I, Australia

MS Rostropovich Cruise Review – June 2015:

“..Hi all at Select-a-cruise.
Briefly;
Pre-tour service was excellent from Becky and her other colleagues. Very helpful indeed and, following one minor confusion, we were offered a complimentary shuttle from our airport to hotel in St Petersburg, which was a great help and much appreciated.
Cruise ship, Ms Rostropovich was also excellent. I had upgraded our chalet and was very pleased with my choice. Ship clean and very comfortable.
On board entertainment was mediocre. Piano playing in the bar was certainly not offensive, but not riveting for us. (There were those who enjoyed dancing to it though).
Food was the most disappointing aspect of the cruise. On the mornings that bacon was on offer it was awful. Streaky and over cooked. Not what would be even served in Ireland or the UK.
Evening meals especially were mediocre and sometimes bland. Lunches, as buffets, were good though, where we had a choice of dishes and portions, which was not the case at dinner.
Staff on board however were all very good, pleasant and attentive.
Our designated English speaking guide, Tanya was great. Knowledgable, interesting, charming and very witty on occasions.
Off shore visits very also interesting and enjoyable. An extra that we took was Moscow by night. Excellent.
A big bonus, though of no help to your survey, was that we had really good weather for the entire 10 days. Made the 40th anniversary even more enjoyable.
Thanks for everything guys. Hope this will be of use to you. We may very well be using you again next year on another river!..”
CM, Ireland

MS Rostropovich Cruise Review – June 2015:

“…We really enjoyed our cruise from St Petersburg to Moscow. The MS Rostropovich has been tastefully refurbished and everything on board was very comfortable. The crew were friendly and professional. Our guide/s were knowledgeable and helpful. Such clever young women! Dining was a pleasure with a delightful waitress (Irina) who smiled and giggled her way through our attempts at speaking Russian. The food was excellent, beautifully presented and plenty of it. Our shore excursions (included) were really interesting and we visited some very unique and special places. On-board entertainment was varied and the musicians were brilliant. Russian classes were fun. We had a relaxing time on the still waterways and enjoyed watching the varied scenery from our balcony. Everything was very well organized, communication was excellent and everything we did was smoothly and efficiently transacted. The whole experience was wonderful and we’d thoroughly recommend it. We would certainly recommend using Select-A-Cruise – Becky, whom we dealt with was just superb in all respects. Thank you so much for the trip of a lifetime…”
W & C from Australia

MS Rostropovich Cruise  – June 2015:

“…We have only just returned from our six week holiday having also spent 23 days on the Norwegian Star. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise aboard the MS Rostropovich and have recommended it to others.  I have also been very satisfied with the prompt help and attention we received from your company, especially Becky who personally organised our holiday.
We would be interested in your help in the future if we do any trips within your organisation.
Thank you…”
W F & J F

Trans-Mongolian Tour: Click here to view tour

“..Hello Becky,
We had a fabulous holiday! We enjoyed every moment in Moscow, Irkutsk and Ulaanbatar, as well as the train ride between the cities. We made so many friends and had so much fun as if we were in the same tour group with them! The local guides were awesome and always ready at the train stations when we arrived…”

Visa Free St Petersburg: Click here to view tour

“..Dear Select-A-Tour,
I would like to thank you for arranging our trip with such short notice. We had a wonderful time and specially with your wonderful tour guide and the very polite and attentive driver. I would very much like to take another tour in St Petersburg to see more of the place…”

Russia Tours and River Cruises:

“..Exactly as we planned. Taxis were right on time and as requested. The ship’s crew were very helpful. Itinerary was full and excursions were very well organised with good speaking English and very informative. Food was fabulous and very well presented. Breakfast was abundant and good choice. Its very relaxing. Prices for drinks were reasonable especially beer.  Money wise it is worthwhile. We would like to thank Carolyn Penney for helping us to plan this trip.
Thank you & Regards..”

“..Dearest Ann,
Herewith our heartfelt thanks for an excellent tour that went without any glitch. Without your help and guidance this could not have happened. Thank you!
We are all still under the spell of Russia and our hosts were excellent and beautiful people. The hospitality and friendship that developed during this tour will last forever
Of course we’re all suffering from an information and emotional overload but we are slowly putting the puzzle of what exactly hit us together .
I will fail in my duty if I do not mention the beautiful, friendly and professional Elena. Our every whim and request were catered for. She deserves a promotion or in military terms a mention in dispatches. Thank you Elena! We all fell in love with you.
Fond regards from a stunned group of people…”

GH

I would like to thank you and SAT for an excellent vacation. We really enjoyed it!
Pretty well everything went according to plan, and all of the transfers were very efficient. When we arrived in Moscow at 05:00 on Sunday Aug 4 the driver was there to meet us and took us straight to the hotel that you had found us, which turned out to be very good, especially as they were kind enough to give us a room immediately (at 06:00!) so we got some sleep before our first day of sightseeing. It was not in a very beautiful location and it was a rather long walk (15 minutes at our speed) from the metro station, but in general it was very good and we soon got used to going around Moscow by metro on our own.  The cruise itself (plus tours and meals) was very enjoyable, and they gave us two bottles of water each per day in our cabin, which was more than enough. We had a great time.

Russian Explorer. Moscow and St Petersburg:

Dear Carolyn, We are just home from Berlin, where we finished up after Russia and Scandinavia, so I wanted to add to [my friend’s] earlier message about the Moscow-St Petersburg tour, which was excellent. The hotels were great and the guides were both most informative, well organised and admirably patient with a slightly disparate group of travellers. Altogether it was a most successful few days and we saw a lot more in the time than if we had been tracking everything down ourselves, though the further travel on our own was also good fun.
So thank you once again for your help in organising our tour and in answering our sometimes trivial questions.
Regards, HT, Australia

Airport transfer went well and efficiently. Hotel check in also efficient. Good location and nice property. We liked our group very much. The schedule was just right as far as sightseeing agenda.
LDF May 2014

Hi Carolyn
Firstly let me say thank you for your very friendly & professional assistance. It has been a pleasure to deal with you. You have been outstanding.
Tour Feedback as requested:
The tour was very good with quality tour guides in Moscow and St Petersburg.  Both guides were very knowledgable and their English was easy to understand.
They both went out of their way to make sure we got the most out of our tour.  Accommodation standard was excellent in both cities.  A small point is the location of the hotel in Moscow.
The Radison was a little bit out of the way and a closer hotel to the city is recommended.  Overall the tour content was fantastic and Alice and I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you again for a wonderful tour and it is with out hesitation I would book with you in the future.
PB – March 2013

Customer Services: The Radisson Blu Belorusskaya Hotel is chosen on the basis of price and quality as well as location – the closer to Moscow centre, the more expensive the hotels so we agree that there is a trade off – we do not wish our tours to become prohibitively expensive but note your comments and will keep under review!

… we had an excellent trip. Tatiyana in Moscow and Vera in St Petersburg were both very knowledgeable but didn’t overload us with facts, they patiently answered all our questions and they went out of their way to help us cope with the language when ordering food etc. Regards.

Your company is head and shoulders above the ones I have contacted, and I will definitely be in touch again…
KM

A wonderful tour – Thank you! AJ

Dear Carolyn,
Very sorry for this late reply.On behalf of my fellow travellers,we thank you for your impeccable service.We had a lovely time .The weather was warmer than we have expected.The tour was a whole new experience to us and very enjoyable.Both of the tour couriers were very professional and friendly.The entire tour went without a hitch.
Thank you again.
Regards,

Well we came back from Russia, and everything went smooth. I want to thank you for all your help and guidance.

To Select-a-tour.com: We have just returned after our trip to Russia and felt that we must thank you and congratulate your company on providing such a wonderful experience for us.
All the transfers that you had arranged for us worked perfectly, the drivers usually arrived about 10 minutes before the appointed time and were very efficient at getting us to the destinations on time. Thank you.

The river boat cruise on the MS Pushkin was extremely enjoyable as well as educational. I have already recommended it to all I meet. We both had a wonderful time. The ride in the train Sapsan was excellent. Finally, the night in the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya was fabulous, it is a truly impressive hotel. So thank you for all your organisation, we are impressed and very happy.

My wife and I took the Moscow – St Petersburg 8day tour on 7 September this year (2013). Firstly, we want to say that it was certainly a memorable experience for us. The tour guide for Moscow was excellent and very knowledgeable. She took a lot of time and patience to fully inform us of all the highlights of Moscow. The only slight drawback was the location of our Moscow hotel which was very good and modern/clean. St Petersburg was truly a delight with the tour guide once again very knowledgeable and accommodating. The hotel there was very central but we all doubted that it was 5 star? We would certainly recommend this tour to our friends in Australia who are very keen to do a similar tour

Classic Baltics: Click here to view tour

Hi there, we had a really good time on our Baltics tour. It was a wonderful tour and we feel we have seen as much as we could be expected to see of three countries in a week! Some specifics:
1. the hotels were excellent. One person on the tour wasn’t very happy with the small window in her room in the hotel in Riga but we didn’t have that problem. The staff in all places were very friendly and helpful, the breakfasts were good and the rooms well-appointed and clean. (For us, they were above and beyond our expectations because of the upgrade we received).
2. The tours we did in each town as part of the package were really good. The guides were knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. It was really good that there was a guide for each language group. We did get to know the people in the French group quite well and would have been happy to tour with them but the trouble is that when there is one guide speaking two languages, there is always a group just standing around waiting for their next blurb and it wastes a lot of time. One excellent aspect of the tours was that we got told about things we could do on our own after the guided tour in our free time.
3. The optional tours were well-worth doing (same comments as for 2 – since the same conditions held, and it was the same guides, the same comments apply).
4. The travel between cities was good too. The buses were comfortable. The best part though was having Pierre as our guide. He knows so much history about the region, it was amazing. It was a nice touch to have the videos playing on the way to Tallinn showing the singing festival and the singing revolution.
Many thanks for your help in getting us on to the tour. We felt safe booking the tour and it all turned out wonderfully.
I want to thank you for a very well organized tour, even thou the weather was not great we were lucky because we have some sunny days in the cities and the rain mostly during the bus rides between the countries. The group was small, only 20, which helped to have a good atmosphere and all of them very nice people.
Your 3 guides were excellent, friendly and knowledgeable, however the guide in Latvia is really extraordinarily good, the best of all.
Your choice of hotels is very good except maybe for the hotel in Riga which I found too dark and cold (heating not working) and the rooms not very well kept (look a bit deteriorated)
I would recommend you to include more optional tours as I found some days a bit empty and some ‘idle time’ left.
Thanks again and I hope to use your services again soon.
Regards

Trans-Siberian Tour: Click here to view tour

Thank you for the super Trans-Siberian tour! It was so good!